“Stray Kids: The Dominate Experience,” a concert documentary about the popular K-pop boy band, became the No. 1 global box office hit with $19.1 million.
The film was released by Universal in international markets and on Bleecker Street in the United States and Canada, grossing $13.2 million overseas and $5.6 million domestically in its opening weekend. As for overseas releases, Universal reports that these ticket sales are ahead of other K-pop concert docs, including 2023’s “BTS Yet to Come to the Cinema” (which grossed $29 million). The film surpassed 2019’s “Bring the Soul: The Movie” and 2020’s “Break the Silence: The Movie,” which closed with $12.1 million and $8.9 million, respectively.
“Stray Kids” chronicles the music group’s world tour and sold-out performance at Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium. “The Dominate Experience” did well in Imax, earning $3.9 million and accounting for 20.5% of the global box office. These ticket sales represent the company’s largest opening weekend for a Korean-language film.
“A generally slow weekend for the industry could present a great opportunity for a film like ‘Stray Kids: The dominATE Experience,'” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at ComScore. “The K-Pop phenomenon should not be underestimated. There is a huge demand for large-scale concert films like this that fans can enjoy in the communal environment of movie theaters.”
The reason “Stray Kids” was able to top the global box office is because major Hollywood studios refrained from releasing new films around the time of the Super Bowl, the biggest television event in the United States. Most of them were holdover titles, reinvigorating the market and contributing to the overall slump in ticket sales around the world.
Disney’s animated behemoth “Zootopia 2” debuted at No. 2 on the global charts with $16.8 million. This includes $12.8 million overseas and $4 million domestically. That’s an astonishing amount for a movie that’s only been released for 11 weeks. “Zootopia 2” grossed $1.8 billion worldwide, making it the ninth highest-grossing film in history.
Zootopia 2 was released ahead of Disney’s upcoming survival thriller Send Help, directed by Sam Raimi, and grossed $16.3 million worldwide in its second weekend. This includes $6.3 million overseas and $10 million in North America. The highly rated R-rated film has so far grossed $17.9 million worldwide and $53.7 million worldwide on a $40 million budget.
Not far behind on the global charts was Disney’s third title, James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar: Fire and Ash, which grossed $15.7 million worldwide. Of this, overseas territories accounted for $12.2 million, and the domestic market brought in $3.5 million. Cameron’s third otherworldly adventure has grossed $1.43 billion to date, but that’s still far less than its predecessors, 2009’s “Avatar” ($2.9 billion) and 2022’s “The Way of Water” ($2.33 billion).
In other box office results, “Marty Supreme” overtook “Everything Everywhere All at Once” to become A24’s highest-grossing film in history. “The Housemaid” has surpassed the $350 million mark. Meanwhile, “Hamnet”‘s revenue reached $70 million.
Marty Supreme has grossed $147 million worldwide to date, making it the best A24 release to date, surpassing Everything Everywhere All at Once ($142 million) and Alex Garland’s dystopian thriller Civil War ($127 million worldwide). And, according to A24, the global tally will continue to grow, as “Marty Supreme” has yet to be released in several large international territories. The studio spent $70 million making the R-rated sports drama (the most money an indie studio has ever spent on a film). The film was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Timothée Chalamet.
Lionsgate’s sexy psychological thriller “The Housemaid” grossed a whopping $354.7 million, a major milestone for a mid-budget film. The film, starring Sidney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, was a surprise breakout at the international box office, accounting for $231 million in ticket sales. “The Housemaid,” aimed primarily at a female audience, cost just $35 million to make and will be a huge profit for the studio.
Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” earned $48.7 million overseas and $21.8 million domestically, bringing its worldwide box office total to $70.5 million. In a trying time for arthouse releases, this is a remarkable amount. Focus Features produced the film with a budget of $35 million. The Shakespearean drama is also in the awards race with eight Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Actress for Jessie Buckley.
